Harel Levy

Harel Levy (Hebrew: הראל לוי; born 5 August 1978) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player, and the current captain of Israel's Davis Cup team.

In a career interrupted first by Israeli Army service and later by serious right hip surgery in 2001, Levy notably scored victories over Pete Sampras, Andy Roddick, Michael Chang and Wayne Ferreira.

As well as reaching the singles final of the 2000 Toronto Masters, he finished runner-up at Nottingham in 2001 and won a doubles title in Newport, Rhode Island.

In March 1998 he and Lior Mor won in Israel, defeating Barry Cowan and Filippo Veglio in the final.

In June he and partner Raviv Weidenfeld won in Ireland, defeating Daniele Braccoalo and Igor Gaudi 7–6, 6–4 in the final.

In September he and partner Noam Okun won at Budapest, defeating Daniel Fiala and Leoš Friedl in the final.

In January 2000 he and partner Jonathan Erlich won at Orlando, Florida, defeating Óscar Ortiz and Jimy Szymanski in the final.

In July they won at Newport, Rhode Island, defeating Kyle Spencer and Mitch Sprengelmeyer in the final of the Hall of Fame tennis championships.

In May 2001 Levy upset the world's top player, Pete Sampras, at the Italian Open, saving 13 of 17 break points.

Levy played down his achievements by joking that he was more depressed by his Israeli soccer team (Maccabi Haifa) losing that week than excited by his success.

"[16] Levy lost in the finals of the Nottingham Tournament in England to Thomas Johansson of Sweden, despite his use of what had become by then his trademark drop volleys.

[1][20] He spent six months home in Ramat Ha-Sharon, a suburb of Tel Aviv, recuperating, and in April 2002 returned to playing tennis.

Later that month he paired with Amir Hadad to defeat Fred Hemmes Jr. and Raemon Sluiter to win in Groningen, the Netherlands.

Levy fared better in the doubles tournament where, along with partner Jonathan Erlich he won the title in straight sets, over Simon Aspelin and Johan Landsberg.

In late April the Israelis captured the Hungary F1 tournament in Budapest, defeating Nikola Martinović and Joško Topić 5–7, 6–2, 6–1 in the final.

Levy and Hadad then competed in May in the German town of Furth, where they took the title from Jan Frode Andersen and Johan Landsberg.

In 2005 Levy won the USTA Tulsa Challenger, beating Benedikt Dorsch of Germany, the reigning NCAA men's singles champion, in a three-hour duel.

[29] In September 2005 he and partner Noam Okun won in Istanbul, Turkey, defeating David Škoch and Martin Štěpánek in the final, 6–4, 7–5.

[30] In June 2006 he and Giorgio Galimberti won in Milan, Italy, defeating Frederico Gil and Juan Albert Viloca in the final, 6–3, 6–3.

[33] Later in July, Levy, who had slipped to 264 in the world rankings since his surgery, won a challenger title in Manchester, Great Britain, beating Travis Rettenmaier 6–2, 6–4 in the final.

[38] Levy decided at the beginning of 2009 to enter slowly reduce his participation in singles tournaments, and put an emphasis on his doubles career with Noam Okun.

In September 2008 against the Peru Davis Cup team, after losing one match in singles to Luis Horna 7–5, 5–7, 7–6(3), 6–3, Levy paired with Andy Ram to win the doubles tie 6–1, 6–1, 6–2, as Israel won 4–1.

2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson defeated Levy in the opening match, 6–7(3), 6–4, 7–5, 4–6, 8–6, in just under 4 hours, but Levy won the decisive final match against Andreas Vinciguerra in Vinciguerra's hometown of Malmö, Sweden, 6–4, 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 8–6 in a marathon 3 hour, 44 minutes to lead the Israeli team to a come-from-behind 3–2 victory over the 7-time Davis Cup champion Swedes[42] at Baltic Hall, allowing Israel to advance in the 2009 Davis Cup.

[43] He added: "Despite all the difficult years, scouring the globe to play in small tournaments with little success, I'm now experiencing a joy that has made it all worthwhile.

[43] The stage was set by Safin, who prior to the tie told the press: "With all due respect, Israel was lucky to get to the quarterfinals.

Levy was aware that the Russians thought he was incapable of playing at their level, let alone beating Russia's top player, Andreev.

[51] With the tie clinched for Israel, the reverse singles rubbers were "dead", and instead of best-of-five matches, best-of-three sets were played, with the outcomes of little to no importance.

[52] Israel wrapped up a 4–1 victory over Russia, as Levy defeated Kunitsyn 6–4, 4–6, 7–6(2), while Sela retired with a wrist injury while down 3–4 in the first set against Andreev.

[54] In September 2017, Levy was named the captain of Israel's Davis Cup team, taking over from Eyal Ran.

Harel Levy at the 2004 U.S. Open
Levy at 2008 Israel Tennis Championship
Levy Playing Davis Cup